Round 5 of the US Open Cup put six matches in the books last night with two to play tonight in the country’s 101-year-old tournament.

Tuesday evening saw two Major League Soccer sides bow out of the competition to NASL clubs as the Carolina RailHawks took down the LA Galaxy 1-0 in extra time and the Atlanta Silverbacks defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-1 in a match marred by a face-stomp and four red cards.

TUESDAY’S RESULTS

Carolina RailHawks 1 Los Angeles Galaxy 0

For the third time in three years the Galaxy’s Open Cup run came to a halt at the hands of the RailHawks, who previously claimed victory over Los Angeles in 3rd Round matches in 2012 and 2013. This year it was Daniel Jackson scored a 105th minute breakaway against the run of play to hand his side a quarterfinal date with FC Dallas on July 8th.

Colorado Rapids 1 Atlanta Silverbacks 2

While the Galaxy result was surprising, the Silverbacks game was shocking. In the 64th minute absolute chaos ensued when the Rapids Drew Moore went to the turf and was stomped on by Silverbacks forward Jaime Chavez. A five minute melee ensued resulting in red cards being handed out to Chavez, teammates Borfor Carr and Kwadwo Poku, as well as Colorado’s Marc Burch. The rest of the match was filled with arguments, elbows and pushes while Chavez nailed a brace and Dillon Powers cut the lead in half with a 75th minute penalty.

Seattle Sounders 1 San Jose Eathquakes 1 (4-1 PENS)

A 26th minute strike by Seattle’s Kenny Cooper cancelled out Steven Lenhart’s opener to bring the match to penalties where Sounders keeper Marcus Hahnemann came up big. Gonzalo Pineda, Marco Papa, Brad Evans and Lamar Negal all converted from the spot for Seattle while Khari Stephenson scored for the Quakes but Alan Gordon missed and JJ Koval had his effort saved for Negal’s conversion to prove the decisive goal.

Houston Dynamo 2 FC Dallas 3

In Houston, Tesho Akindele scored the 98th minute winner for Dallas after goals from Fabian Castillo and Andres Escobar were offset by Giles Barnes and Omar Cummings.

Sporting Kansas City 1 Portland Timbers 0

A Gaston Fernandez brace and penalty by Will Johnson handed Portland 3-1 victory over Kansas City at Sporting Park. Soony Saad’s third strike in as many matches helped Sporting cut the lead but wasn’t enough to generate a comeback after falling behind by three goals in 68 minutes.

Philadelphia Union 2 New York Cosmos 1

A Sebastien Le Toux brace handed his Philadelphia Union the 2-1 win over NASL side New York Cosmos. Alessandro Noselli put the home side on its heels with his 56th minute chip but it was only a minute later that Le Toux leveled before his 115th minute pen gave the Union their winner at PPL Park.

After their thrilling 1-0 home win over DC United in Round 4 of the tournament, Rochester takes on its second straight MLS opponent in the New England Revolution. The Rhinos, who won the US Open Cup in 1999, have faired decently well against MLS sides in the competition, winning eight of the 25 contests they’ve played in. The Revs, however, will be well aware of their opponent’s potential after barely getting by fellow USL PRO side, Richmond Kickers, 3-2 in their Round 4 match. They too have won the competition (2007) setting up what promises to be a compelling match. The contest will be streamed live here with the winner facing Philadelphia Union in the next round.

After needing extra time to secure a 2-1 home win over NASL side Indy Eleven, the Columbus Crew now face the Chicago Fire for a bid to the next round. The reward? Those pesky Atlanta Silverbacks, who upset the Colorado Rapids 2-1 last night amidst some definitive controversy. The Crew were knocked out by the Fire in last year’s competition and will be seeking revenge against the four-time Open Cup winners. Chicago head into the matchup after beating the Pittsburgh Riverhounds 2-1, a match that was ultimately abandoned in the 49th minute due to a rain-soaked pitch. The Fire pose a formidable home record in the cup, having lost and drawn only once while winning the other 19 matches they’ve played. The match will be streamed live, here.

I really like the way the Open Cup picks up importance with MLS on break. If we had a summer break for a few weeks every year so that teams play these international exhibitions etc, it’d give increased meaning to the Open Cup.

You see teams like LA bringing full squads to NC when it’s one of a few competitive matches they’ll have over this stretch. Last year you’d have seen LA Galaxy II in NC.

Fun (or maybe painful) bit of trivia: the Earthquakes(/Clash) have faced MLS opposition in the Open Cup eight times in their history – and have failed to advance every single time, including this PKSO loss to the Sounders.